Things and Skills You Should Know for Front-End Development

Web development consists of two different parts, each of which require different skill sets and knowledge of all that goes on at the specific ends. Web development is broken down into both front end and back-end development. Front end development is all that is required at the interface of a web application, while the back-end development oversees everything that goes on behind the scenes.

In this article, we take a look at the things and skills you should know about front end development. The content below is geared for people looking to build a career in front end development.

What is Front End Development?

Have you ever looked at a website and wondered how it operates? Do you look at all the clickable buttons and wonder how all of it transpires in one place? All in all, the user interface of a web application is created via front end development.

All those users get to see and interact with on a website is achieved through front end development. The  front-end layer does the lion’s share of the work to help users interact with the website and build a design that people can understand.

Read : Front-end vs Back-end vs Full-Stack Developers

Who is a Front-End Developer?

Having understood what front end development is, we now look at front end developers. A front end developer is a person who incorporates interactive website interfaces through the help of tools such as CSS, JavaScript and HTML. Front end developers work over the interface and design of the website to improve the interaction users have.

If you head to a site, you can see the work that front end developers have put in, through the layouts and navigations of the website application. Front end development is all about putting website designs on paper and ensuring that people actually like them.

Things and Skills to Know about Front End Development

Some of the things and skills that all aspiring individuals and interested readers should know about front end development include:

HTML/CSS are Essential for Front End Development

Html or HyperText markup language is the standard language used for creating web applications and pages. HTML is the basic-most building block required for developing the front end of a website. CSS or Cascading Style Sheets is a language used for presenting the document in an appropriate format.

HTML is used for creating the right foundation for your page and giving it the look that you desire. CSS, on the contrary, is used to configure the color, fonts, style and pages of what you have selected. Both HTML and CSS are considered to be essential for thorough and authentic front-end development.

Developers Use JavaScript/jQuery for Authentic Work

JavaScript is another extremely important tool for working on front end development. JavaScript is the perfect tool for you, if you are looking to implement interactive features on your website such as videos, scrolling abilities, games, animations and much more.

JavaScript comes with its own library in the form of jQuery. The library is basically a collection of extensions and plug-ins in one place, which allow t to work faster. jQuery basically takes common tasks with multiple lines of code and executes them in a compressed single line.

Frameworks are Important

There are multiple front end framework developed by CSS and JavaScript. CSS and JavaScript frameworks basically are a collection of JS or CSS files and perform different roles that have some common ground in them.

Frameworks come with their own strengths and weaknesses, which is why it is extremely essential for organizations to choose the right framework for their web app. Some frameworks by JavaScript excel at amplifying the UI of your website, while you have others that excel at giving a positive light to your website’s content.

Read: Frameworks for Mobile Application

Responsive Design is a Must

All developers working on the front end development process try their best to achieve a responsive design. Customers today access the internet from their gadgets like phones, computers and tablets. The web pages need to be responsive and functional on all these devices so that users aren’t restrained from visiting their web application from a specific device or tool.

A responsive web design can improve traffic to your website and can ensure that you have a number of customers visiting you in the long run. A responsive design is also must for good front end feedback from customers.

Dependency on Browser Developer Tools

All modern web browsers have their own developer tools for debugging and testing. These debugging and testing tools allow browsers to test web pages by themselves and find out just how a web page is responding and performing on the basis of these tests.

Browser developer tools basically consist of a JavaScript Console and an inspector. The developer tools help you understand the functionality of the runtime HTML on your website and the changes you can make to them over time.

Web Performance is Everything

Web performance is absolutely everything when it comes to front end development. All developers would want to ensure that they cut down on the time it takes for the website to load and ensure superior performance. There are steps that can be taken for a better web performance, such as minifying JavaScript and CSS and ensuring better fluidity in operations.

We hope you have learnt some new and interactive details about front end development by the end of this article. Aspiring programmers and developers can study more material on our blog.